'Subscribe and Save' instead of 'Buy 2': +38% subscription conversion
Commentary byLiftArchiveOur analysis, not theirsReplacing a "Buy 2 with a discount" option with "Subscribe and Save" on a cold-traffic landing page lifted subscription conversion by 38% and one-time conversion by 10%.
Feals, a CBD and wellness brand, ran the test in-house over 21 days, and it was published as a Replo case study.
The team had expected new visitors to avoid a subscription.
- Subscription conversion: +38% against the page with the multi-buy offer.
- One-time purchase conversion: +10%, so the subscription option did not pull buyers away from single purchases.
- Sample size and statistical confidence were not shared.
The change
A 'Buy 2 with a discount' option vs a 'Subscribe and Save' option with listed perks
Simplified mockup drawn by LiftArchive from the shared screenshots.
Control
The landing page for cold ad traffic offered two choices: "Buy 1" or "Buy 2 with a discount".
Variant
The same page offered "Buy 1" or "Subscribe and Save". The subscription box listed its perks, such as free shipping, a free dosage consultation and the option to pause or cancel anytime.
Why it likely won
Our reading of the result, not the practitioner's claim.
- The subscription box spelled out what shoppers get and that they can cancel, which lowers the risk of committing.
- A wary first-time buyer may find buying two of something new a bigger ask than a cancellable subscription.
- Having two clearly different options may have made the choice simpler.
Caveats: The test ran 21 days and no sample size was shared. The variant also introduced a benefits list in the buy box, so the offer and the trust messaging changed together.
Who ran it
Feals ran this test for Feals and published the results (Replo case study). The numbers are theirs; the summary and commentary on this page are ours.
Read the original case study on Feals →
How to run this test on your store
- Hypothesis
- If we replace the multi-buy discount with a Subscribe and Save option that lists its perks and says it can be cancelled anytime, then subscription conversion will rise because new shoppers see a low-risk way to save.
- Primary metric
- Subscription conversion rate
- Guardrails
- One-time conversion rate
- Revenue per visitor
- Subscription cancellations in the first 60 days
- Who should test it
- Brands selling consumables that people reorder, like supplements. It fits less well for one-off purchases or products people only try once.
Questions
Should you offer subscriptions to first-time visitors?
In this test it worked better than a multi-buy discount on cold traffic.
Clear perks and an easy cancel option seem to matter.
Does a subscription option hurt one-time sales?
Not here. One-time conversion went up 10% alongside the subscription lift.
What should a subscription buy box say?
List what the shopper gets, such as savings or free shipping, and say plainly that they can pause or cancel anytime.
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